Playwriting MFAs

[tate12]

@lavender- Thanks for sharing! One of the reasons I got a full time office job was my fear of being a working artist. But you definitely made it work! The office job is killer on your artistic spirit.....

 

@cardinal- Yeah that's a hard decision. You're schedule sounds perfect for low-res. And financially, it sounds doable. As I have a lot of undergraduate debt already, I can't imagine adding anymore to that. There are lots of good funded programs. 

 

@Sealou- I live in Austin. Austin doesn't have many internships They do have a lot of teaching artist positions through Creative Action, Zach Scott Theatre, and Paramount  If you like working with students, you should check them out. 

 

Also I think Rude Mechs calls for interns each semester. But they give preference to UT students. 

[SeaLou]

@tate12

Thanks a lot. I'll definitely be looking into that.

I also agree about the debt. Then again, I know quite a few of my professors still paying off graduate debt. I guess it really depends on income. I know when I was looking at screenwriting years ago, I had heard it was almost impossible to go to UCLA or Tisch without taking on some debt.

[lavendercloud]

I have lots and lots of info about national internships, many of which are funded and include housing, but if you're looking to stay local I'm probably not much help. Check out DC (Studio Theatre, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore), Philadelphia (Walnut Street, Arden), Hartford Stage, Huntington, ACT in SF...there are lots and lots of great internships out there. PM me your email and I can unleash lots of info on you. I interviewed with most of those theaters and never got one of those top-tier internships, but they're worth a shot and the deadlines are coming up quickly (3/1 to 4/1 for the majority). It's tough to move somewhere new for a one-year opportunity but you will make tons of connections (probably as many as you would in 3 years in grad school given the number of professional actors and directors you'll work with, not to mention literary managers, artistic directors, and dramaturgs). And you may get an opportunity to stay on for another year, or find another job in that city.

 

Cardinal: I can totally see why low-res appeals to you. It's such a personal decision and I think it could be very personally enriching to pursue the degree. If the money stress is going to outweigh the benefit - like, if you're currently panicking at the thought of taking out those loans - then you should probably pass. Talk to some graduates of those programs and see if that helps.

[Singsalot]

Hi All -- Just received notification for a Skype interview at NYU tomorrow. 

 

Has anyone interviewed there before/has any advice?

 

Thanks!

[Zissou]

Singsalot!

 

Congrats!! That's so great. I haven't applied, so I'm not sure, but a good friend of mine used to teach in that department. He said, if they are interviewing you- they already like your work. Be yourself, and know that they are feeling out how you might fit into the mix for the next couple of years.

 

Break all the legs!

[SeaLou]

@singsalot

Congratulations. That's great to hear.

@lavendercloud

PM'ed you

[Singsalot]

Just received my dreaded Yale decision. Ah well. Always hard when you see it in your Inbox, though.

[Singsalot]

Has anyone heard anything about The New School? I know they schedule their actors and directors and writers for a weekend callback all together ... wondering if anyone has actor friends or director friends who applied just to see if there is still a possibility one could still hear ...

[SeaLou]

Also received the Yale letter. Appreciating the brevity.

Anyone know anything about Iowa?

[lavendercloud]

Got the Yale rejection too - I think it's exactly the same as last year's. Heard from MFA Draft fb group that UCLA rejections have started rolling out, but my status hasn't yet been updated. Iowa and UCSD sites both tell me they're still under review as well.

Edited February 28, 2015 by lavendercloud

[tate12]

Got my Yale rejection during my UT interview. 

 

UCSD in a few weeks.

 

Wishing I would have applied to more schools. 

[lavendercloud]

How did the UT interview go? And you're hearing from UCSD in a few weeks? Did you already visit? I'M SO CURIOUS TELL ME EVERYTHING

And Tate, are there any schools you're waiting on? I get wishing you'd applied to more...I did 7, but my original list was 11 and I'd feel better now if there were more maybes out there.

Edited February 28, 2015 by lavendercloud

[Singsalot]

We will have to leave it to Zissou to carry the Yale banner this year ...

 

Had my NYU interview yesterday.

 

It went very well, though from what it seems there are no real production opportunities. I am interested in the cross-discipline of writing for TV and film in addition to playwriting, but really the only reason I am applying to grad school is to study with some amazing teachers and see a show of mine put up. I have done many readings and workshops but not a full production -- I feel there is a lot to be learned from seeing everything come together in an actual show ... and that disappoints me about NYU. It seems they put up a 'reading' of your thesis work but not a show.

 

Does anyone know people who have gone through the program there and really loved it? The classes also seem big to me -- 12 people max is what I was told. The most I have ever had in a workshop class is 8, and I always felt like 8 was a lot. Thoughts, anyone?

 

Feeling very bummed about Yale and Brown at the moment. I am clinging to the hope that TNS and Brooklyn College have yet to notify. Also applied to Juilliard but that feels like a real shot in the dark at the moment.

 

Thanks all for being so great. It's nice to come to the Boards to vent. I am keeping busy working on a new play, which is a drama. I tend to write absurd comedy and farce, and I am sort of regretting using one of my wild pieces for the application process this year. Wondering if it's going to be that I end up applying all over again with a more 'serious piece,' and perhaps that will get a different response. I have noticed that people on admissions boards/fellowships/play development places tend to respond less seriously to comedies -- even though I think that is what many audiences like to see.

 

Dunno! Just typing and venting! I need a drink.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Singsalot

[lavendercloud]

Singsalot: totally forgot to congratulate you on your NYU interview! I didn't realize that they don't have production opportunities. I know some programs produce only select student work rather than guaranteeing productions, but at least in that circumstance you'd have a chance. What is the funding like? It doesn't bode well if there's both poor funding and no productions. I also know that, at least up to a couple years ago, NYU was very administratively disorganized, which can cost the students outside opportunities they might otherwise get.

Vent away, that's what we're here for!

[Singsalot]

No worries, Lavendercloud. It was very nice to at least hear back from one place --

 

Not sure what the funding is like. I had heard they offer one or two very good department fellowships per year but not actually sure. I have a full time job that I will have to leave if I get into a program, so I will need funding to subsidize my expenses. I applied to NYU because I like some of their graduates (Rajiv Joseph, David Read) and truly am also interested in writing for TV ... but yeah, I was surprised to hear they don't put up a show. They also don't seem to have a class where the graduate actors read your pages, which I know other programs do and seems like a no brainer for a school with actual MFA actors who are good, as NYU has a great acting program.

 

If any NYU Dramatic writing grads are on here, I'd love to hear from you!

[PrincessIsInAnotherCastle]

ZISSOU -- What were the Juilliard semi and finalist interviews like when you did them last year...?  What did each of those steps of that process entail?  YOU ROCK THAT YALE INTERVIEW, LADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (No pressure, but you are our representative.  We send you forward in peace as a brave and presumably talented emissary...  LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!)

SINGSALOT -- CONGRATS ON THE NYU INTERVIEW!  I went to NYU Undergrad for acting and have strong opinions about the level of debt going there leaves you in.  (In fact, I wish lavendercloud had been around then to counsel me wisely as to the economics of life and art).  Additionally, I have attended readings of 3rd year plays.  About 4 or 5 of them.  To be blunt:  they weren't fabulous.  GRANTED -- it was ONLY those 4 or 5 plays that I have seen.  Others were likely stronger.  But I think the students at NYU deserve MORE for the time and money invested.  They deserve full productions.  Period.  (Michener and Juilliard are entirely different situations, obviously...  They are spaces where you are let loose to create as much as you can... and you don't pay a dime!)

Why do I feel so strongly about the NYU thing, though?  I don't know.  I think because I believe that the theater is not an idea, it is a tangible, 3-dimensional event.  You can write for years on paper, and what does that get you?  

Anyway, as for me: rejected from UCLA and Yale.  Know I will be rejected from UCSD, as well.

However, it was publicly announced Friday that the same play I submitted for grad school applications will be one of the 5 mainstage shows at The Great Plains Theatre Conference.  "5 out of 578 scripts."  With more than a few current or past Yale students also participating.  So...  The outside validation makes me feel good.  (Since someone will inevitably google me and figure out my... "Bruce Wayne" rel life identity, maybe I should update my website with the developments of the last 18 months...lol...  But Zissou seems to use her real picture as herself, so ... eff it!)

Anyway, I am old enough to recognize that outside validation is very, very dangerous.  The work must be an end in and of itself.  But there's a little Sally Field in all of us...  (They like me!  They like me!)

Also, a play of mine is having a reading on Tuesday March 10 at 7 p.m. as part of the Paul Enger Memorial Play Reading Series, which is cool.  Desperately trying to assemble a cast for that.  If any one is in NYC and wants to come see it, drop me a line privately.  (WARNING:  The whole thing could be a fabulous disaster...)

I guess I write all of this to echo a sentiment ZISSOU attributed to Lucy Thurber in an earlier post:  Grad school isn't the only avenue.  There are many paths.  The way to get a play done is to do it.  Because that is what plays are.  They are events.  They are not merely literature, meant to be read.  It ain't easy to get things up.  And even if you do, getting people to come is almost impossible.  But grad school is no guarantee, either.  SO MANY PEOPLE come out of these programs and are never heard from again...

And now a word from Teddy Roosevelt:  

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
 

(I bolded sentences that strike me as particularly appropriate to our current "rejection connection."  Also, on some days, boldface font is the only thing that does the trick!  

Anyone heard about The Lark, Last Frontier, or... any other such festivals...?

Edited March 1, 2015 by PrincessIsInAnotherCastle

[Starsandsound]

Last Frontier is running late- I've emailed Dawson and he thought they might be out by the end of Feb, but it looks like they're a little behind. Should be any day.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Starsandsound

[Singsalot]

Princess -- Fantastic news. Congrats! Just goes to show that a good play -- MFA or not -- is all that matters.

 

What is your reason for applying for an MFA at this stage in the game?

[PrincessIsInAnotherCastle]

I would say that it takes a good play -- plus a WHOLE lot of chance.  You apply to many things.  You get one or two of them.  You don't get most.  There's just no rhyme or reason, really.  

I seemingly have a lot going on, suddenly, to be sure.  But GPTC and the Enger reading series both happened AFTER I applied to grad schools.  And I only applied to those things because I was "in the habit" of sending the play out, writing an essay, etc, thanks to grad applications.  (Truly, I had NEVER sent this play to any festivals before.  Energy begets energy).  So for that alone, i am grateful to the process.

But without recreating my essay herein, I applied to grad school because I crave -- and asked for from each institution -- 1 or 2 or 3 years where I could reconnect to, deepen, specify, and amplify my voice.  I want to be challenged.  I NEVER know what I am writing when I start it.  Every time is new.  Anyway, I wanted the auspice of a program to support me through some of my forthcoming creations -- and to allow me to support others in theirs.  

But if I need to continue to find my own path, I will.  Ya know?

[tate12]

Go, Princess!

 

@lavender- The UT interview was great. This was the first year they had all the MFA candidates visit (or those who could attended. I think one MFA playwright couldn't.) We had a morning breakfast meet and greet Then tours of the building and campus. After we had a taco lunch and interviews. I thought the interview went well. Some basic questions and some more kooky questions-which were kinda hard to ask. But I thought I gave them a piece of my personality. Then we (the playwrights and directors) went to a bar near campus. And then headed to a second year playwright's show in the community. It was very fun and exhausting. 

 

ALSO, I got a rejection from Last Frontier. So acceptances should be out soon. 

 

I applied to Yale, Brown, UT/Michener, and UCSD. I got interviews at UT and UCSD. And rejections from Yale and Brown. I wish I would of spread out my chances a little more. 

Edited March 2, 2015 by tate12

[genericincognito]

Congrats, Princess! That's terrific news! And thank you for sharing that Teddy Roosevelt quote. A worthy reminder to focus on the work, rather than the validation/criticism thereof. 

 

Update on my end: Received an email yesterday about scheduling a phone interview at Ohio. So, apparently they're still working their way through applications. 

[Zissou]

Gang!!

 

On the Juilliard front- last year, the first interview was with Laura Marks. She is LOVELY. Very casual. We talked about theater I love, and what kind of theater I want to make. We also talked about my production history, and the play I submitted. She was very open about their process. She told me that they interview about 20-25 people as semi-finalists, and then cull down to about 12 or so. She said that there are a lot of factors in how they put together their program. They look for writers that are very different from one another, and different from the writers they have in the program now...meaning the two years should have a lot of diversity. We chatted for about an hour and change.

 

The second interview was with Marsha(!), and was wonderful. She wanted to know why I write- what keeps me up at night. So inspiring. It was about an hour. I left feeling really good, and confident.

 

I was rejected via email- sobbed like a baby. There was another round of interviews after I was cut loose- a wine/cheese mingle-type thing. I found out from another finalist. Laura emailed me separately and encouraged me to apply again, yadda yadda yadda. 

 

Princess- let me know if you need some help with casting. The one benefit of slogging it here in NYC for so long, is that I have a stable of amazing actors that owe me so many favors. Congrats on Great Plains! It is supposed to be amazing!

 

I'll give you guys a break-down of Yale after Thursday. Say a little prayer for me.

[bluebane]

Hey playwrights -- I'm an MFA Directing prospect and was at Ohio last week for a finalist visit. Cute school. The students seem very happy (I chatted with one of their first year playwrights for a bit). Charles Smith (head of playwrighting) is super nice and seems like he'd be great to work with. Their main theatre space is gorgeous.

 

Let me know if you have any questions I might be able to answer from spending a couple days there.

[lavendercloud]

You guys:

 

I'M IN AT OHIO.

I'M IN AT OHIO.

I'M IN AT OHIO!!!!!

 

I'll follow up with more details because I have a bunch of people to share the good news with today, but I could not be more excited! It sounds absolutely perfect for me and I can't wait! I basically already said yes (not officially, they're processing paperwork) and even if Iowa came through I wouldn't be interested because Charles went to Iowa and he said he turned Ohio into the program he wished that had been.

 

I AM FREAKING OUT YOU GUYS THIS PROCESS HAS BEEN SO LONG AND I FINALLY KNOW WHERE I'M GONNA BE FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS AAAAHHHHHH

[Singsalot]

Lavendercloud ... this is amazing! Congratulations! 

 

We want all the details, please ...